‘Moonis Elahi bagged Rs 220m of NICL money’

by Masood Rehman , (Last Updated January 25, 2011)

ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court was informed on Monday that an accused who embezzled Rs 5 billion in the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam had told investigators that he had given Rs 220 million to Moonis Elahi, son of former Punjab chief minister Pervez Elahi, from the plundered money.A three-member bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Muhammad Sair Ali and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday was hearing a suo motu case against alleged corruption of over Rs 5 billion in NICL. Appearing on notice, Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Deputy Director Zafar Qureshi told the court that Muhammad Malick, an accused in the NICL scam, had admitted giving Rs 220 million from the plundered amount to Moonis.He said the accused was the Manager of Al-Tahoor International, a company owned by Moonis. During the hearing, the chief justice expressed annoyance over the transfer of Zafar Iqbal Qureshi, who had been supervising the NICL scam last year but was appointed the head of the Police Foundation. The chief justice ordered Interior Secretary Qamar Zaman to look into the matter otherwise the court would pass an order in this regard.The secretary told the court that Qureshi was an honest officer upon which the CJP asked if it was the very reason for his transfer. The chief justice directed the secretary to write to the concerned authority and submit a reply in this regard today (Tuesday). He said corruption and corrupt practices involving billions of rupees were going on in the country but no government official was showing interest in its recovery.“It seems as if efforts are being made to hush up all corruption cases, as those responsible are not being arrested,” he remarked. Justice Ramday said officials found involved in corrupt practices should not think that they would go scot free, as strict action would be taken against them, adding that the officers who are working honestly were being changed.Qureshi informed the court that the problem in the NICL scam was the evaluation, as difference in value of the Airport Road, Lahore, property deal was Rs 80.4 million. However, Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, lawyer for NICL, informed the court that money in two cases of NICL in Lahore had been recovered.He said after the Supreme Court took notice, the authorities had been asked to freeze the company’s account. FIA Deputy Director Basharat Shahzad, who is now the investigation officer of the NICL scam, told the court that there was a corruption of Rs 5 billion in NICL, but the chief justice noted that the scam involved corruption of over Rs 18 billion.